By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
PARKERS CHAPEL - Parkers Chapel seems to be getting on a roll at the right time of the year.
On Friday night, the Trojans cruised to their third straight win by downing Sparkman 73-43 in Class 1A-2A District 15 play.
The Raiders quickly got the Trojans’ attention by scoring the first five points of the game, but Parkers Chapel (13-5) quickly recovered thanks to Nate Garrett-Evans, who sank four 3-pointers in the first half en route to scoring 17 points for the Trojans.
A junior, Garrett-Evans also had five rebounds.
Garrett-Evans got the Trojans on the board with a trey from the left corner.
Just over a minute later, the junior drained a 3-pointer from the opposite corner to give the Trojans their first lead of the game.
A pull-up jumper by Darius Pigg gave the Raiders (3-18) a 9-8 lead, but the Trojans ripped off 13 unanswered points to take a 21-9 edge.
Bryce Coke had five points in the spurt, and Dezmon Jackson also keyed the run by assisting on Dawson Goodwin’s 3-pointer while scoring on a pair of layups.
After Mason McClure scored to stop the 13-0 run, the Trojans promptly went on a 7-0 run with Garrett-Evans scoring five points in the stretch, including his third 3-pointer of the stanza.
The Trojans led 28-14 after the opening period, and they got a big lift from their bench in the second period.
Watson Dunn scored five of his eight points in the second period, and Amari Bell cleaned the glass, snatching a team-leading seven rebounds along with four points.
In the second period alone, eight different players scored for the Trojans.
Parkers Chapel took their biggest lead of the half on Coke’s jumper at the buzzer that gave the Trojans a 48-23 lead at intermission.
A basket by Goodwin with 4:08 left triggered the sportsmanship rule, giving the Trojans a 59-28 lead.
“It was a good game for us to get everybody some action,” said Parkers Chapel coach Trey Lynch. “I told them beforehand that all five of their guys can shoot it, and I don’t know if they believed me until they put up nine in the first two minutes, but it was a good night for us.
“I don’t know what the last time was where we got the turbo clock going, so I told the kids not to take it for granted but to enjoy it, because it wasn’t but two years ago we were on the other end of that more than we wanted to be.”
With a decided advantage both in size and depth, the Trojans rarely gave the Raiders second opportunities, outrebounding the visitors 29-15.
Coke had nine points, while Joshua Osborn and Goodwin had eight points apiece.
Osborn added five rebounds for the Trojans. Jackson rounded out a balanced attack with seven points.
Preston Paden had 12 points for Sparkman.
With the postseason looming closer, Lynch has been pleased with his team’s defense during their winning streak.
“We were just playing our half-court man, which has been real solid for us the past two weeks,” Lynch said. “We’ve really just locked down defensively, and we’re starting to find a little bit of a groove and a rhythm. Hopefully, we can carry it forward these last few weeks of the season and beyond.”
In the junior girls game, Parkers Chapel got past Sparkman 30-17.
Drue Thomas had 10 points, while Ali Looney and Taylor Fortune had six points each.
Warren 71,
Smackover 49
SMACKOVER - The Lumberjacks jumped out to a 31-18 lead at intermission before winning by the final margin in Class 3A-4A District 12 play.
Damarous White had 14 points to pace the Bucks, while Bryce Lockhart had 13 points and Dorsey Williams chipped in with 10 points.
Nathan Hairston and Hayden Lassiter each scored 13 points to lead Warren, while Javion Robinson had 10 points.
West Side Christian 55,
Ridgway Christian 42
PINE BLUFF - West Side Christian's Viraj Vora and Cian Douglas combined for 45 points in a win over Ridgway Christian. The Warriors improved to 15-5 overall and 3-1 in league play.
Vora scored 23 points and hit 11-of-14 at the free throw line. Douglas scored 11.
West Side went 18-of-26 at the line.
Ridgway Christian won the junior boys game 39-27. Zackley Pearson led the Warriors with 10. John Wylie and Spencer McNabb scored seven and six, respectively. West Side fell to 5-5, 2-2.